Shoe-scraping door mat



Jan. 16, 1951 E. A. KNUTSSON SHOE-SCRAPING DOOR MAT Filed Oct. 3, 1946 Fig. 2.

' INVENTOR. Eric. warm/ml, Wow

HTTORNEYS V have been rigidly arranged.

Patented Jan. 16, 1951 um'rlzfo STATES PATENT OFFICE *SHOE-SCRAPING noon MAT 'EricJArmand Knutsson, Stockholm, Sweden, as- =signorto HenricGiesecke, Stockholm, Sweden Application October 3, 1946, SerialNo. 700,991 In Sweden September 23, 1946 so considerable that individual laths in the mats :broke under'the strain.

The primary-object of this invention -is',to overcome this dimculty and produce a mat in which no such strainsoccur. According to the invention this is attained by providing -parts of the frame, 'whichxare intended to be used for fastening the laths, with grooves adapted to receive the ends ,of the laths, andby inserting .the latter in-said grooves. :In-this arrangement,

"the'laths will be movable relativeto'the frame and the individual laths may-be exchanged, if necessary. The period of use of th mat is "essentially extended by this arrangement.

in order :to more safely fasten the -laths, I preferto make theiryends dovetail-shaped and the grooves of a shape registeringtherewith.

The invention will be explaine rwith reference to the annexed drawings. Fig. I shows, partly in section, a piece of a mat according to the invention. Fig.2 shows asection along theline II-.II in, Fig. I.

:The frameis provided with a groove 2, in which the dovetail shapedends'3 of the laths l'and theilikewise dovetail shaped'endyt ofthetother frame-piece 6 are placed. ,To thispiece, as well as to the laths 4, strips 8 of-elastic material, e. g. :rubber, are fastened by means of fastening means I. The ends of the frame-pieces .are connected with each other by means of screws 9 and),

andan angle-bar l l.

If-itis necessary to exchange a lath'forqany reason, the two screws 9 in the framework-piece land. the corresponding screws at. the other end i of the frame-pieced are removed, whereupon this pieceand as many laths .4 as necessary for the removal of the lath to be exchanged, as well as the latter, are removed, whereupon a new lath is inserted and the mat is reassembled.

'The assembly, thus described, presents a number of advantages, some of which are indicated above' and others arenow presented:

- the rigid member.

1 unit rigid element) The frame is a formation readily produced and capable of ready assembly and easily manipulated for purpose of repairs. The end members l each have the inner sides formed with the dove-tail groove 2 extending from end to end and thus capable of ready formation; the side members 6 have their ends formed as tenons complementary .to and slidable in the grooves; the end and side members have no other direct connection. The anchoring connection between these members is provided by the external angle irons I! located at the corners of the. assemblywith the screws 9 securingthe ironto the end member and screws l0 securing the iron to the side member. By withdrawing screws 9 at opposite ends "of one of the side members, such side member,

carrying the freed angle irons, is then readily withdrawable from the groove 2 of the end members,'thus completely opening the assembly and a reversal of this regimen permits the frame to be re-assembled.

- The interior of the frame isprovided bya series of individual units which extend parallel with the side members '6. Each unit includes a rigid element, the lath 4, the ends of which are tenoned similar to the side members for slidable movement in grooves '2, and a resilientelement, indicatedat 8, which has a width greater than the similar dimensions of the frame members and The resilient element is of elongated type with a length materially greater than the length of the rigid member of the unit,

tion, with the corrugation between adjacent points closed by the face of the rigid element to which the resilient element is secured. The corrugation produced on the opposite side of the resilient element atthe securing point is an open corrugation (in the assembly, the latter corrugation is closed by the Opposing side of the adjacent As a result, the resilient element of the unit presents a length configuration of substantially continuous sinuosity, with alternate corrugations closed by the rigid element of the unit and with the intervening corrugations open, and with each corrugation as of material depth.

by the same side of the rigid element in successive units with the result that when the series of units is mounted within the frame, the assembly will present a spaced-apart succession of resilient elements having their edges extending above and below the opposite planes of the top and bottom faces of the frame members and the rigid elements, such edges presenting the sinuous formation. Since the corresponding corrugations are alined in parallelism with the frame end members, there is provided an exposed scraping face formed by such edges, while the lower edges provide the surface which contacts the support, as indicated in Fig. 2. While, under the weight of the user, there may be a tendency for the lower edges to yield slightly, the structure is such that the exposed under edges act to prevent creeping of the mat, when the latter is being subjected to scraping use.

Each of the unit rigid members has its end portions formed complementary to the dove-tail groove 2, being free to move longitudinally thereof, the only connection between the rigid element and frame end--members being the complemental dove-tail connection. Hence, when side member 6 is removed, the units can be successively located within the grooves 2 through the open end of the latter until the desired number has been introduced, after which the side member is placed in position, with screws 9 then securing the angle irons H to the end rails to complete the mat. Obviously, should one of the units become damaged to such an extent as to require removal, the reverse of the above operation is provided, withdrawal of screws 9 permitting the side member 6 to be' withdrawn from the grooves 2, after which the units are successively Withdrawn until the damaged unit is reached. The latter isthen withdrawn, repaired or a substitute unit inserted, after which the withdrawn units are restored and the side member 6 positioned in the manner previously described. As will be understood, the side member 6 is also provided on its inner face with one of the resilient elements 8, the opposite side member 6 does not carry such resilient element, its inner face serving to support the resilient element of the first-entered unit, thus providing uniformity in the mat arrangement.

The dimensions of the mat and of its individual elements are such that when assembled, the structure presents stability and looseness is avoided through the presence of the resilient zones, even though the units are free to move in the grooves. If part dimensions are such as to tend to crowd the assembly by being slightly oversize, no difficulty is provided since pressure ap-" plied to the side member 6 will simply cause corrugations of the resilient elements to flatten slightly and in such case the free slidability of the units in the grooves 2 is advantageous since the units are free to adjust themselves to the changed conditions, thus assuring uniformity in the spacing of the scraping edges provided by the upper edges of the resilient elements.

The upper exposed edges of the resilient elements form the scraping edges of the mat, the corrugations being spaced and under more or less tension, provide for efficiency in the scraping action. In such service conditions, the free slidability of the units is not disadvantageous, due to the fact that the user can only scrape one foot at a time as he must support his weight with the other foot. If the scraping action should tend to advance a unit, the scraping pressure would be limited to one end of the unit (the;

4 stationary foot would anchor the other unit end) thus attempting to cant the unit, an action which would be resisted by the complemental portions of the dove-tail action provided by the groove and tenon. In other words, While the unit is free to slide in the grooves when both ends of the unit are moved concurrently, such slidability is prevented when but one end of the unit is subjected to the advancing pressure.

It will be understood from the above description that various modifications of the arrangement shown may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The mat shown in the drawing is made of wood with strips of rubber. Instead of Wood other suitable materials, for ex ample metals, and-instead of rubber, other suitable materials, such as leather, may be used.

It has been found that plastic materials are very suitable for the entire mat, as they have a very attractive appearance. The laths should be made of a harder material than the strips.

What I claim is y l. A mat construction comprising a rigid frame of rectangular contour, and a plurality of scraping units mounted within said frame and constituting the active scraping surface of said mat, said frame comprising .a pair of parallel spaced side members and a pair of parallel spaced end members disposed perpendicularly of said side members, each of said end members having a 'central longitudinal groove in its inner face, said grooves extending substantially the entire length of said end members, each of said scraping units comprising a rigid rectangular element whose ends are slidably supported'in the respective slots of said end members whereby each of said rigid elements is freely slidable in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of said end members, each of said scraping units also comprising an elongated compressible and bendable resilient strip whose normal expanded length is materially greater than the length of said rigid element, said resilient strip being secured to a side face of the rigid element at equally spaced-apart points lengthwise of said rigid element, the spacing distance between adjacent securing points on said resilient strip being such as to cause said resilient strip to be sinuously disposed relative to said rigid element, presenting arcuate outwardly-projecting crowns of equal size between each two adjacent securing points, the plurality of scraping units being assembled within said frame with said arcuate crowns of the sinuous contour of one unit in contact with the adjacent face of the adjacent unit to thereby present the active mat surface as formed with spaced sinuous surfaces interposed with rigid elements, said resilient strips yieldably maintaining said rigid elements evenly-spaced and parallel to each othe andto said side members.

2. A mat construction according to claim 1 in which the longitudinal grooves of said end members are of dove-tail shaped cross-section, and in which the ends of said rigid elements are formed as tenons complemental to the groove cross-section.

3. A mat construction according to claim 1 in which one of the side members of said frame is removably secured to said end members, whereby upon removal of said side member, the scraping units may be slid out of said frame.

4. A mat construction according to claim 1 in which the height of each resilient element is greater than the height of said rigid elements and said frame, saidresilient elementsprojecting 5 above and below said rigid elements and said Number frame. 501,788 ERIC ARMAND KNUTSSON. 1,442,063 2,382,789 REFERENCES CITED 5 The following references are of record-in the file of this patent: g UNITED STATES PATENTS 78934 Number Name Date 19 126,139

218,948 Ferguson Aug. 26, 1879 165,770 397,402 Toffler Feb. 5, 1889 182,335 402,705 Westerholm May 7, 1889 449,363 417,215 Bailey Dec. 17, 1889 Name Date Horrocks July 18, 1893 Gothberg Jan. 16, 1923 Guignon Aug. 14, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Sept. 14, 1896 Switzerland Feb. 17, 1919 Switzerland June 1, 1928 Switzerland Dec. 15, 1933 Switzerland Feb. 15, 1936 Great Britain June 25, 1936 

